Blockchain could be used for good. It's a nice idea, and one consistent with the vision of its creator, Satoshi. But the endless ICOs, pump-and-dumps, and get-rich-quick-schemes are not helping society, instead enriching the few at the expense of unfortunate investors. Fortunately, some people are trying to use blockchain technology to help Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, in more innovative ways than just cheap remittances.
The 3.5 million Rohingya are a stateless, Indo-Aryan-speaking people residing in Myanmar's Rakhine state. The predominantly Muslim ethnic minority has historically faced persecution and does not have citizenship or equal civil rights. In 2016 and 2017, the Myanmar government ordered its military to commence mass executions of Rohingyas, resulting in large-scale human rights violations and deaths. The ethnic cleansing has led to a refugee crisis, with over 600,000 refugees migrating to Bangladesh and India for sanctuary.
The United Nations has received criticism for its response to the Rohingya crisis. Although the UN has criticized Myanmar's military actions and characterized them as ethnic cleansing and genocide, it has not called for member nations to help settle and protect Rohingya refugees. Instead, the majority of aid has come from private nonprofits like Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International. A recently signed repatriation deal between the UN and Myanmar does not address the issue of Rohingya citizenship and ignores pleas to establish a refugee representative. The Rohingya crisis is also relatively less visible in Western media compared to other humanitarian crises like the Syrian civil war or Yemeni crisis.
Fortunately, blockchain tech is already helping Rohingya refugees improve their lives. The Rohingya Project is a philanthropic initiative to give refugees digital identification and other social services. The project aims to address the challenges of being stateless, including a lack of national identification and no access to capital, credit, and other financial services. It will use blockchain tech to issue digital identification to refugees after they verify their status by taking a test. The project, which is currently experimenting with a pilot program, hopes that successful identification will be a first step toward restoring the human rights and dignity of the Rohingya people.
A new blockchain project that aims to help refugees worldwide is ExsulCoin (XUL). ExsulCoin is working on providing educational opportunities to refugees through an immutable record of educational achievements. The ExsulCoin blockchain will help refugees learn, hone their skills, find employment, and share their work records with other people. The founders of ExsulCoin, James Song and Cat Song, are deeply passionate about aiding refugees. James is currently in talks with the Rohingya Project's team about a future partnership.
Although the UN and world governments should intervene for humanitarian relief, hopefully, these two blockchain technology initiatives will help refugees transcend their many struggles and successfully pursue a better life.
The author does not hold any positions in any of the securities above.